Cycalona "Clonie" Gowen (born November 6, 1971) is an American professional

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

player, based in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

Early life

Gowen was born in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and grew up in Kiowa, Oklahoma. Her first name was inspired by the fact that she was born while a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

(cyclone) moved through the region. She won Miss Teen

McAlester, Oklahoma McAlester is the county seat of Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. The population was 18,363 at the time of the 2010 census, a 3.4 percent increase from 17,783 at the 2000 census,Shuller, Thurman"McAlester" profile ''Encyclop ...

, at age 15, and as a teenager moved to

Corsicana, Texas Corsicana is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45, 56 miles northeast of Waco, Texas. The population was 23,770 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Navarro County, and an important Agri-busines ...

. She was a member of the varsity

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team and placed seventh in state high jump.

Poker

Gowen was introduced to poker by her boyfriend's father, and started playing while living in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, driving to

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

, on the weekends. She finished tenth in a

World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the fi ...

(WPT) event in late 2002, before gaining national recognition in 2003, winning the televised WPT Ladies' Night event. Over the next five years, Gowen added ten more top-40 finishes in WPT and

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...

events. She has not been active in

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

events since a high finish in the 2009 Aussie Millions in January 2009. Gowen served as a guest commentator for the

Ultimate Poker Challenge The Ultimate Poker Challenge (UPC) was a series of weekly poker tournaments acting as super-satellites into the series semi-finals. The first and second seasons are available on NTSC DVD. In the United States, it was a syndicated program. Format ...

, The Gaming Club World Poker Championship and the

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Women's Poker UK Open. She was a regular

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for ''All In'' magazine. She frequently hosted

tournaments A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

and charity events and was a partner in a poker school. In 2007 and 2008, Gowen played in five different episodes/games of the first four seasons of ''

Poker After Dark ''Poker After Dark'' is an hour-long poker television program that originally aired on NBC, premiering on January 1, 2007.

'', a production of gaming company

Full Tilt Poker Full Tilt Poker is an Irish online poker card room and online casino that opened in June 2004. Formerly privately owned by Tiltware, LLC and later by the Rational Entertainment Group, the site was acquired by The Stars Group (then known as Amaya ...

, airing on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

as a series of televised cash poker games. Gowen won the most money at three of the games and finished with second most in a fourth game. Gowen was an inaugural member of "Team Full Tilt", a group of professional poker players sponsored by, and promoting, the Full Tilt Poker online site. In early November 2008, a few weeks before season five of ''Poker After Dark'' began taping, Gowen was released by Full Tilt Poker, and was not invited to the final three seasons of the ''Poker After Dark'' series. In late November 2008, Gowen filed a lawsuit against a company associated with Full Tilt Poker. Filed in a Nevada court against software company Tiltware LLC, the suit sought damages of $40 million for breach of contract regarding a 1% ownership share, among other things. The suit was dismissed by a trial court, but later partly reinstated on appeal—though no final outcome has been publicized as of 2014. As of 2014, having not returned to tournament play since a few weeks after filing her 2008 lawsuit, Gowen's total live tournament winnings stand at nearly $1,640,000.Hendon Mob Database: Clonie Gowen
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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gowen, Clonie 1971 births Living people People from Florida People from Pittsburg County, Oklahoma People from Dallas American poker players Poker commentators World Poker Tour winners Poker After Dark tournament winners Female poker players People from Corsicana, Texas